McLaren Bay Region Cardiac Surgery Program Honored

Highest Rating Given by Society of Thoracic Surgeons - 3 Stars

November 22, 2012
By: Dave Rogers

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) has awarded its highest rating -- 3 stars -- to McLaren Bay Region's Cardiac Surgery Program, placing it in the top 14 percent in the area of isolated coronary bypass graft surgery (CABG).

The STS National Adult Cardiac Surgery database is the largest single specialty database for health care quality in the country, with more than 1,050 participants and more than 4 million patient records.

The STS has developed a comprehensive rating system for the quality of cardiac surgery among hospitals across the country, based upon 11 individual NQF (National Quality Forum) endorsed CABG measures of quality, including:

Do patients survive the surgery?

Do they avoid debilitating complications?

Do they receive an internal mammary artery graft if appropriate?

Do they receive guideline recommended medications that may substantially impact long term freedom from cardiac events?

In the current analysis of national data covering the period from July 2011 through June 2012, 14 percent of cardiac surgery sites received the 3 star" rating for CABG surgery - the highest category of quality.

The cardiac surgery performance of McLaren Bay Region was rated in this highest quality tier, thereby receiving an STS 3 star rating.

Ramesh Cherukuri, MD

Ramesh Cherukuri, MD, one of two cardiac surgeons practicing at McLaren Bay Region, is quick to credit the entire team for this rating. Robert Holmes, MD, agrees, commenting on behalf of the team:

"McLaren Bay Region's 3-Star rating is the result of the implementation of best practice guidelines developed by national and state medical organizations - in particular the MSTCVS's Quality Initiative. The coordinated efforts of the entire team - consisting of doctors, physician assistants, nurses, surgical techs, pharmacists and therapists - with administrative support - were essential in making this possible."

For more information about the Michigan Society of Thoracic and CV Surgeons QI initiative, see www.mstcvs.org/qc.